"The M203 is: A) too slow to reload, and B) not suitable for use at close-quarters range."

Keep in mind that I hunt big hogs with nasty teeth using a pistol, a 6" Model 686 Smith with a Leupold 2X scope, which gives me six shots without reloading and gives them a sporting chance. But I draw the line with an oversized, mutant RAT, and so: A) I wouldn't want to reload; and, B) I wouldn't want to use it at close-quarters range. Some things just deserve HE, and one shot, from a distance, ought to be enough.

Because I hunt hogs for meat and as well as to exterminate them (locally, at least). I eat the meat and wild hogs need exterminating. Hunting an animal for meat without giving them a sporting chance is called "shopping", and it's done in a supermarket.

Because I hunt hogs for meat and as well as to exterminate them (locally, at least). I eat the meat and wild hogs need exterminating. Hunting an animal for meat without giving them a sporting chance is called "shopping", and it's done in a supermarket.

What do you use if you're exclusively in the "exterminating" mode? I've sorta wanted to find out what my .223 75gr. Hornady BTHP Match handloads would do to a big feral pig.

And, for that matter, my 285 grain .45LC loads out of my Winchester '94 or the Model 25.

For exterminating only, I use a Kimber 8400 Montana in .270 WSM, shooting a Nosler 140 Accubond at 3150 fps.

The problem with hogs is that, when one shot is fired, the rest bolt, and other shots at other hogs have to wait for another time. My brother suggests I use his SKS carbine (i.e. 10 shots, rapid fire), but I prefer to use my own.

"I've sorta wanted to find out what my .223 75gr. Hornady BTHP Match handloads would do to a big feral pig."

I suggest doing it from a tree, and have a backup handy, such as a .45 ACP firing Gold Dots.

A week ago, my brother killed a whitetail with his Kimber 84 in .243, using a 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip at about 3,000 fps. It was a quartering shot, entering from the front at the seam between the right front shoulder and the brisket. The bullet wrecked the lungs, but it did not exit the lung cavity. In fact, it never touched the ribcage or the diaphragm.

In contrast, I have never recovered a bullet from my .270 WSM that hit an animal, as all of them made a spectacular wound channel and went clear through. So, methinks light bullets, even going fast, on a big, feral hog invites undesired post-shot activities involving teeth. I give them a fair chance to get a way before shooting, but I try not to let them get at me afterwards, and kinetic energy on target does a nice job.

The biggest I've taken field dressed at 197 pounds, and I took it with my 686 Smith. It was what I had a the time, as I was dragging a two-wheel dolly through the woods with a tent blind and chair on it when he appeared. He was only 20 yards away when I fired. Only a few minutes before that, I saw, for only about three seconds, a huge pink sow that made him look tiny. From that point onwards, I have never set foot on that property without artillery of some kind.

Jim, if you're going to cart around a tactical wheelbarrow, you might as well mount a GE mini-gun on it to use on those rats. With the proper mount, it should be possible to dump the wheelbarrow on it's side with the gun still usable, and then you'd have the barrow itself for cover. (And thanks for the gunkid laugh -- been a while.)

However, for the ROUS's, I'd have to consult with Mitt Romney first, because I'd want a "weapon of unusual lethality", and I assume he knows what that'd be.

As bud said, 1.4 kg is three pounds (more or less), the effect of .22 on them would be like shooting deer with a BMG .50. Use .223 if you want to shoot them with a scope at over 100 yards, otherwise .22 LR because it's cheap, or that high-velocity .17 round, or even a good pellet gun should do.

Capybara at 140 pounds - now that's a R.O.U.S. and if they're at all inclined to attack, I wouldn't want anything less than 30-06 in hollow point. Even if they're peaceful planteaters like big woodchucks I wouldn't recommend the way my Dad claims he bagged woodchucks for dinner back in the 30's - by sneaking up on them with a rock...

I knew a guy (now deceased) who was an ex-Rhodie farmer(Rhodesian - he got out when that nice Mr Mugabe took over ...). He used a .600 Nitro express to shoot the elephants which occasionally caused problems on his property.

When I asked him why he used the .600 Nitro express (in preference to (say) a .375 H&H which has a trajectory the same as a 180 grain 30.06) his reply was "Because they don't make a .700 Nitro express".

He didn't subscribe to the "if you are going to shoo them, just shoot them a little bit" school of thought. He said that an irritated elephant can solve ALL of life's problems for you ... permanently!

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